For replacing the used-up cleaning cloth in a cylinder washing device, it is customary to remove the empty spindle of the supply roll from the cleaning device, to wind fresh cleaning cloth on it and to put it back. The full receiving roll is removed, the soiled cleaning cloth is unwound from it, the empty spindle is again placed into the cleaning device and the beginning of the cleaning cloth is fixed in place on the latter.
There have been no lack of attempts to make this method more user-friendly A solution is known from DE 38 41 269 A1, wherein the soiled cleaning, cloth is wound back on the supply roller, so that here the supply roller can be replaced by a fresh one.
In the solution known from DE 43 19 258 A1, rewinding is avoided. In this case,the cleaning device is designed in such a way that it can rotated around its longitudinal axis by approximately 180.degree. C. The positions of both rolls can then be exchanged after the cleaning cloth has been wound off the supply roll. After this, the empty supply roll is used for winding up the soiled cleaning cloth, i.e. as receiving roll. The full receiving roll with the soiled cleaning cloth can then be removed and provides space for a fresh supply cloth.
A further solution for simplifying the changing of the cleaning cloth is known from DE 195 43 518 A1. The design of that device is such that the cleaning cloth of both rolls is wound on tubes, which in turn are seated on shafts seated laterally in the machine frame. Because of this, it is possible to remove the rollers from the machine transversely and parallel with the cylinder axis and in this way to replace the empty roller with a fresh one.
The limitations of the above mentioned solutions consist in that, in spite of the simplification of the change of the rollers, the insertion of the fresh cleaning cloth into the washing device and the fixing in place of the beginning of the fresh cleaning cloth on the receiving spindle continue to require skill and patience on the part of the operator.
A solution is described in DE 43 06 676, in which the changing of the cleaning cloth, and in this connection the draw-in of the cleaning cloth into the washing device in particular, are intended to be simplified. A gripper is proposed, which gripper is fastened on a circulating traction means, preferably a toothed belt. The gripper grasps the end of the cleaning cloth and conducts it over the pressure element to the receiving spindle, where it can then be fixed in place. Here, the traction means are manually moved or are driven by a motor.
The limitation of this prior art solution lies in the fact that the device becomes unnecessarily complex, in particular because of the unavoidable traction means together with the gripper, and can only be provided with a great outlay.